A review of Marriott’s Autograph Collection Watermark Baton Rouge flagged an interesting issue. On a peak demand date – LSU football against Mississippi State, which LSU came from behind to win in the fourth quarter – the hotel was charging higher room rates than the posted maximum on the back of room doors.
I booked 2 nights for $650 per night for an LSU game weekend and was happy to pay this rate until I arrived to the room where I see clearly posted in the room that the maximum the hotel is legally allowed to charge is $500 per night (including special events).
I then brought this to the attention of the front desk staff and was called a liar by staff who were very rude and condescending. The staff member was also unwilling to come to the room to see for himself. The posted sign in the room shows the Watermark Baton Rouge logo and then also mentions New Orleans City Code which is very confusing and makes no sense (the confusion could be intentional).
The staff forcefully said that I have agreed to the term thus there’s nothing they can do even if the $500 maximum charge policy is true. People who are not fully informed about the municipal codes (which is most of us) are being scammed. We will be reporting to the city of Baton Rouge.
Many states have ‘maximum rate laws’ for hotels. Basically, hotels must post the highest rate they’ll ever charge for a room, and cannot exceed that rate.
You’ll often see a notice like this on the back of your hotel room door:
ROOM NO._________
This room will accommodate ________ people during a capacity period. When use of this room is demanded to the exclusion of other guests desiring accommodations, the full charge of $__________ will be made per day for such room. During a period when it is necessary to utilize this room to its full capacity, the following maximum rates apply:
1 guest $ __________ 3 guests $__________
2 guests $__________ 4 guests $__________
Posted ________ day of ____________________, 20___
Usually these signs are just ignored, but they become relevant during special events, like the Superbowl or other mass sellout situations. In Texas hotels have to wait 30 days to charge a higher rate after updating their notices, so if they need to charge a higher rate for the Superbowl they need to plan in advance.
I always assumed the intent was to prevent price gouging during disasters, but as I looked into it a hotel can’t always charge their maximum posted rate during a disaster (doing so might still be considered price gouging, for instance in my home state hotel rates would come under Texas Business & Commercial Code § 17.46(b)(27) during a declared disaster).
I’m familiar with how these rules work in Texas and Virginia, where I’ve lived for the past 26 years. I believe my prior home state of California is similar. However I never presuppose anything about Louisiana law, which is unlike the 49 other states in many respects.
The next time you are paying an especially high rate for a hotel room, due to extreme demand, it might be worth looking for a notice on the back of your hotel room door to see whether your rate is higher than the posted maximum. It feels like a technicality and unreasonable – after all, you agreed to the higher rate when you booked the room! – but some of you will want to pursue a complaint.
If any of you don’t already know, the Marriot & Bonvoy are both somewhat crooked operations. This is just one more PRIME example. I’ve read a number of bait-and-switch stories here and at other flyer talk sites.
Why anyone would want to book a room at a Marriot property is beyond my comprehension. This is one hotel brand just to stay away from…
—> https://viewfromthewing.com/several-marriotts-now-tack-on-an-unexplained-sustainability-fee/
—> https://viewfromthewing.com/marriott-changed-award-categories-at-15-hotels-that-werent-in-its-published-announcement/
—> https://viewfromthewing.com/marriott-resort-says-they-dont-upgrade-elites-due-to-small-size-of-hotel/
..
James, here is my only reason for booking a room at a Marriot….because my beloved favorite hotel on the planet in the heart of my beloved Toronto, became one with the takeover which as a teeny tiny shareholder I voted against. I will not stay anywhere else, it is home to me, and I stay there more for the environment of the hotel which is so beautiful to me, and accommodates my pup as well. I have stayed there since it was built when taken by my parents as a young teen. I was there on a long weekend on 9/11, even offering to share my room if needed or help with phones or anything else I could do. I never forget in spite of their stupidity and policies that are so opposite SPG, there are some wonderful people who still work for them and are doing their best. That’s another reason.
There is no end to the corruption and greed with this hotel chain.
For those complaining about this how about hotels (of all brands) that cancel reservations in order to charge higher rates for special events (or kick everyone out is someone wants to rent the entire hotel for an event). Also, this isn’t just Marriott so quit the typical bashing.
Gary – you bring up a good point on law. As you know, 49 states base their laws on British common law but Louisiana isn’t since their civil code has been derived from the French Napoleonic Code. Also, there may well be a specific state law that allows hotels to exceed the “maximum” rate for special events (think Mardi Gras in addition to LSU football). It would take someone qualified and familiar with Louisiana commercial law to answer that. However, the hotel does bring up a good point that the person willingly booked the room at the agreed upon rate so that likely would also have some bearing in a legal proceeding.
What! Texas regulates hotel rates?? Whatever happened to the free market!
@Retired Gambler – Voluntarily agreeing to an illegal transaction doesn’t make it legal. The hotel is still obligated to follow the law. Not to mention, if the hotel really wanted to claim “voluntary agreement”, they would have needed to make the customer aware of the legal limit, then get the customer to agree to go beyond it.
This has all the makings of a class action suit. Each party that was overcharged was harmed in the same way. And once you open that door, you open the door to discovery of the hotels records. Undoubtedly, this has probably been going on for a long time, and a good lawyer is going to go back as far as the statute of limitations allows.
@C_M The bigger question is what is Louisiana law regarding this matter and is the hotel even bound by the notice (or are there allowances for it to be exceeded during special events or a certain number of nights a year). That can’t be answered unless an attorney that focuses on this area from Louisiana posts the answer. Just because you think it is illegal (or may be in other states) doesn’t make it so in this situation. Every state has different statutes with respect to matters such as this and I can tell you from experience that Louisiana law is different from any other state and you can’t make generalizations.
Also, the original person Gary quoted mentioned a notice about New Orleans municipal regulations but obviously those don’t apply in Baton Rogue (where the LSU game was played) assuming, of course, the hotel is even located within the city limits of Baton Rogue.
@Retired Gambler – All correct, but the first part of my answer is supposing that it is illegal. Furthermore, the sign (probably) makes no exceptions, which tells me there are none, exceptions would void the whole purpose of the law.
A quick search did find this:
Louisiana Revised Statutes §21:21
Fraud in obtaining accommodations; worthless checks and other fraudulent acts A. No person shall:
(7) Sell or offer to sell accommodations at any hotel during the weekend of the National Football League Superbowl game, Bayou Classic game, Sugar Bowl game, and during the period of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four Tournament, in excess of thirty percent more than the highest advertised rack rate charged by the hotel, inn, or boarding house.
Which seems to be an anti-scalping law. But that also tells me there is a Louisiana law regarding posting maximum hotel rates somewhere, and if there are any exceptions, an ordinary football game isn’t one of them. And no local law can override state law.
But yes, besides our amateur speculation, we do need a Louisiana lawyer. It’s certainly within the realm of possibility the hotel is violating the law.
@anon – “Free market” does not mean no regulation. ‘People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the publick, or in some contrivance to raise prices’ – Adam Smith
Everyone is missing the real takeaway from this story. It really doesn’t matter whether the room rate is legal or illegal. The real takeaway is that a guest raised a reasonable question and was called a liar and was treated poorly by hotel staff. The staff could have and should have said that they would ask management to look into it and would reach back to the guest with an answer.
We here at Marriott don’t have to abide by the laws as it’s what’s in our best interests
That may mean price gouging shorting our highly valued elite members benefits such as breakfast or late checkouts.We are also free to add on destination fees resort fees energy fees and our latest bend over fee housekeeping staff protection fee that many of our guests appreciate
Have a nice stay you’ve been upgraded I mean Bonvoyed!
20 years ago at Cornell my professor stated Marriott was perceived as the most trusted
Brand in the world lol lol lol. Perhaps white collar/ crime crooks! Let the buyer beware!
The real takeaway from this story is that someone found yet another jobs-killing regulation that is strangling business.
Republicans will make sure it’s removed ASAP and restore freedom to companies like Marriott to create new, high quality, jobs for Americans. And if you don’t want to pay those rates, stay home!
@Alan: “There is no end to the corruption and greed with this hotel chain.” Correct. And the problems are not only in the US
Marriott? Need we say more?